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Starter Motor Removal

abornemonkey

abornemonkey

Joined Jun 2009
26 Posts | 0+
West Midlands
After much tinkering to find the problem why my Mille won't start I have finally come to the conclusion that it's the starter motor.

I was getting a nasty chattering type noise from the relay and thinking it was at fault I changed it only to find it wasn't the problem. The dash now shows DIAG 1 and when I disconnected the starter motor the relay sounded like it should. As soon as I replaced the cable to the Starter Motor the chattering from the starter relay began again.

I have three manuals to help with replacing it but neither of them show any diagrams of how to remove it.

Firstly, can anyone far more wisened than me out there tell me they think that it is the starter motor and where can I get the 1055-1 Aprilia manual from

Many thanks
 
STOP !!

A chattering relay can and often is the sign of a faulty battery, when you replaced the starter relay (solenoid) did you replace it with the 150 amp (upgraded) version ?

How old is your battery and do you have a multimeter or something to check the voltage with ?.
 
I replaced it with a standard OEM part (only now realising that was a mistake) but I have checked the battery with a multimeter and it showed 12.91 and 13.1 respectively.

It just seems odd that the relay sounded bad with the starter motor connected, but sounded like it should when disconnected.
 
bridge the terminals on the starter relay with a screwdriver.......if the bike starts get a new relay
 
The battery may show reasonable voltage but if it has a duff cell or is breaking down under load you will get that chattering noise. Basically it will have a good voltage reading but not be able to supply the current, which is what these bikes need.

With your multimeter connected to the battery , ignition on , press the starter button (just a couple of seconds no more) What is the reading on the multimeter ?


abornemonkey said:
I replaced it with a standard OEM part (only now realising that was a mistake) but I have checked the battery with a multimeter and it showed 12.91 and 13.1 respectively.

It just seems odd that the relay sounded bad with the starter motor connected, but sounded like it should when disconnected.
Click to expand...
 
Not wishing to be the bringer of doom and gloom but are you 100% certain that the clattering noise wasn't emanating from the lower left of the engine as your sat on the bike? :dunno

Before you cause untold damage to your sprag assembly get that battery charged or changed. :eatcorn (If it's more than 12 months old then I'd totally recommend sticking it in the bin)

Rarely do we see starter motors fail but that's not to say it couldn't be that. :thumbup


abornemonkey said:
After much tinkering to find the problem why my Mille won't start I have finally come to the conclusion that it's the starter motor.

I was getting a nasty chattering type noise from the relay and thinking it was at fault I changed it only to find it wasn't the problem. The dash now shows DIAG 1 and when I disconnected the starter motor the relay sounded like it should. As soon as I replaced the cable to the Starter Motor the chattering from the starter relay began again.

I have three manuals to help with replacing it but neither of them show any diagrams of how to remove it.

Firstly, can anyone far more wisened than me out there tell me they think that it is the starter motor and where can I get the 1055-1 Aprilia manual from

Many thanks
Click to expand...
 
I had a sprag clutch let go on an older model and luckily it's certainly not that gloomy. I've put my hand on the starter relay when I turned over the ignition and it was vibrating in my hand! I'll certainly try the battery test. Maybe that's why they don't provide images of starter motor removal, it's the rarity of it.
 
abornemonkey said:
I had a sprag clutch let go on an older model and luckily it's certainly not that gloomy. I've put my hand on the starter relay when I turned over the ignition and it was vibrating in my hand! I'll certainly try the battery test. Maybe that's why they don't provide images of starter motor removal, it's the rarity of it.
Click to expand...

Hi - I've got the sae issue. I'm wondering how yours turned out...

Cheers!
 
Outstanding first post fella...you've dug yourself up a zombie.....3 years old too.....respec :lol:

Check your battery and connections before you do anything....
(providing you're not getting a horrible noise fron the sprag in the l/h crankcase you should be fine with a bit of fettering)
 
Tifa said:
Outstanding first post fella...you've dug yourself up a zombie.....3 years old too.....respec :lol:

Check your battery and connections before you do anything....
(providing you're not getting a horrible noise fron the sprag in the l/h crankcase you should be fine with a bit of fettering)
Click to expand...

Cheers Tifa - I aim to please :)

To be honest, I've not had any trouble from my Mille until now - and then I started googling... My situation so far... If anyone can help or suggest that would be great...it started with a slow cranking starter motor, like a flat battery. Once or twice the clocks all reset. But usually after the 5th or 6th attempt, it fired up just fine - a nice and strong cranking. I replaced the battery with a new gel one, thinking that was the issue. Same problem. So I replaced the starter solenoid... Same problem. Then the cable from solenoid to starter. Still the same problem. Then I pulled the starter motor off to clean the connection, and cleaned a couple of earth points I could find. Then I put it all together last night, and now I get a buzzing noise from the starter solenoid :(. I don't know what I've done to change the problem...
 
Before you do anything else you need to check the state of your battery and charging circuit. Do NOT use the dash vm but use a proper meter.

A buzzing from the starter solenoid could be 1 of 2 things . 1. Low volts/amps 2. Solenoid is fritzed

If you are feeling brave you could use a big screw driver and short across the the solenoid terminals.

Repeated cranking will eventually shag the sprag especially as each crank will drop the available voltage and current going to the starter motor, also repeated cranking can flood the motor and the plugs so that you get no spark. At which point all you can do is try a full throttle start or pull the plugs.
 
Kiwi_rsvr said:
Before you do anything else you need to check the state of your battery and charging circuit. Do NOT use the dash vm but use a proper meter.

A buzzing from the starter solenoid could be 1 of 2 things . 1. Low volts/amps 2. Solenoid is fritzed

If you are feeling brave you could use a big screw driver and short across the the solenoid terminals.

Repeated cranking will eventually shag the sprag especially as each crank will drop the available voltage and current going to the starter motor, also repeated cranking can flood the motor and the plugs so that you get no spark. At which point all you can do is try a full throttle start or pull the plugs.
Click to expand...

Hey Kiwi

I'm getting 13.3v using my multimeter at the battery. When I first got the buzzing I put my old starter solenoid back on - same result. I put a screwdriver across the solenoid earlier (should have used a bigger screwdriver - stuffed the tip) - sparks but no cranking and no buzzing.
 
So with your meter on the battery and you press the starter button what does the voltage reading drop down to ?

So it doesn't start at all now and the solenoid just buzzes when you press the starter button ?. What is the dash display doing during this ?.
 
Hey mate
It jumps down all over the place... Up and down, not sitting on anything particular. Down to 3.something, up to 8.something, and everything in between. Dash doesn't do much... Tacho needle moves an inch or so, and with lights on, dash dims.
Fuel pump primes, hit the starter and just buzz from the solenoid...
 
Trusty said:
Hey mate
It jumps down all over the place... Up and down, not sitting on anything particular. Down to 3.something, up to 8.something, and everything in between. Dash doesn't do much... Tacho needle moves an inch or so, and with lights on, dash dims.
Fuel pump primes, hit the starter and just buzz from the solenoid...
Click to expand...

Oh... And I thought I'd do some more analysis, so I removed the cable from the starter motor, put the multimeter on the end of the cable, and hit the starter. Just a click from the solenoid, and the cable reads 12.8v.
 
I'm interested in what the solution is, mine just started doing this this morning. I go out to the bike, the kill switch was on, I tried started it w/the kill on...realized it was on and released it, the fuel pump primed but when i hit the starter nothing happened. Just a bit of a whine every time I hit the starter button, maybe the injectors shooting fuel, but no cranking whatsoever. The battery is new and should be more or less fully charged. If it needs a jump I'll usually get at least a little crank out of it or the lights will go dim. Kinda pissed, this is the first time this has happened.
 
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